"Game of the season? I don't know because the difference is we stuck in there today and errors didn't cost us as it has in other games," Hastings said, adding everyone had a busy day for their last home game.
Character, he agreed, was the difference as the often error-ridden defence and indecisive midfield coughed up possession at crucial times.
If thumping Upper Hutt 5-0 the previous Sunday was a stroll in the park, yesterday Rangers gave them little time and room to think, let alone move.
No doubt, Rovers goalkeeper Shaun Peta, whose foot therapy still must be a work in progress, was the man of the match for his valiant saves to frustrate and deny the Rangers' potent strike force of Paul Ryder, Henry Fa'arodo and Michael Fifi.
Said a grinning Hastings: "Shaun's made some great saves but then, you know, his kicking in the first 20 minutes wasn't quite there, was it?
"He kept us under pressure with those kicks," Hastings said, pointing out the flaw to Peta at halftime for a markedly better second spell.
In fairness to the 24-year-old gloveman, who made a return to Central League last month after a nine-month hiatus, some of the defensive manoeuvres were questionable in the first half.
Back passes into the waterlogged 18m box to the keeper's lesser-utlilised foot was a blunder waiting to happen, especially when defenders had other options to either hoof it up or simply put the ball over the sidelines to enable them to regroup with throws.
The Rovers went up 1-0 against the run of play in the 14th minute, when a Rovers header deflected off a Miramar defender only to find teenage striker Fane Morgan dutifully parked obliquely away from the far post to drill it past Rangers goalkeeper Phil Imray.
Another whoopsy defensive cornerkick in the 21st minute exposed the visitors' frailty in that department.
In the 34th, Peta conceded a penalty kick when he dived for the ball at Ryder's feet but took him out instead.
Ryder had Peta diving to the wrong corner for a 1-1 draw.
But villain turned hero in the 77th minute when he thwarted another penalty kick from golden-boot prospect Ryder to the right-hand corner, after Fa'arodo had caught Gearey napping with another inside run to yield a foul.
Peta had made another match-winning save five minutes earlier when he put his body on the line to a point-blank range shot from Ryder before the Blues defence painfully cleared the ball from harm's way.
A minute later Danny Wilson played wide on the right to Harley Rodeka, who ran to the cornerflag area before making a copy-book cross to the far past for a sliding left wing Josh Stevenson, who had a so-so day, to push it past the upright for a 2-1 lead to keep his scoring habit alive.
All hell broke loose shortly after the kick off with Miramar raids but a relieved Gearey saved off the line.
A substitution fiasco followed when Jett Hogg ran on for Gearey wearing a No 19 shirt when he should have had No 20 but calm heads prevailed.
Critically, the Rovers were guilty of not marking left wing Fa'arodo who was causing untold problems by loitering along the flanks to lure defenders out before cutting in with incisive runs.
"It's never been [easy]. It's been pretty hard for the last few years," Rangers coach Valerio Raccuglia said, lamenting how his troops had several opportunities to change their misfortune yesterday but failed.
"It was the same last season when we could have scored a few more goals but right now we're looking like that again and can't seem to hit the target so it's something we need to work on."
Wearing a faint smile, the Italian coach said Miramar were simply keeping the league interesting with a nail-biting finish to the season for fans.
Hastings said the Rovers went into the game mindful they weren't going to see much of the ball against a side who thrive with a deft-touch passing game.
Swiss knife Danny Wilson, returning from injury, came in at halftime as a "target man" up front for injured Andy Pickering who also was in foul-trouble territory while Aaron Jones replaced Morgan early in the second half although a fleet-footed Stu Wilson, clinical as defensive midfielder, was perhaps a better scoring option.
"It wasn't the day for overplaying in the back third because we had to get it up to the front. We lacked composure at times but then when you're playing Miramar ... they are on the top of the table for a reason," he said, adding the Blues rode their luck at times.
Hastings agreed the deteriorating ground nullified Mirama's effectiveness but Rovers showed patience when out of possession.
He hoped fans would store yesterday's fond memories and return next season with some zest to help win back the title.
